On the framed slate display above the Courtesy Arch, the chalk runes were burning down with terrifying, silent care. The three columns of light pulsed all at once, their digits shifting every second like sand falling through a glass.
Ada Morland’s clock stood at twenty-nine minutes and fourteen seconds. Jo Saye’s clock stood at thirty-one minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Imran Bell’s clock stood at thirty-three minutes and forty seconds. At one-forty-five on the dot, Ada’s return oval would open automatically. Her presence in Lathmere would end under the unchanging laws of the bridge.
Pella looked at the numbers, feeling the cold weight of the universe settling onto her shoulders. There would be no extensions. The City Council couldn’t vote more time. The High Senate couldn’t decree an extra hour. No prayer to sky gods could stretch a minute. The Courtesy Bridge was built on the sacred promise of the lunch break: an honest trade of time for silver. He was sealed by the total right to go home to one’s family when the shift was done.
“Twenty-nine minutes,” Pella whispered to herself, closing her fingers around the cold copper wire. “Twenty-nine minutes to undo forty years of pride. Eren, take the bell. Kel, watch the twisting force telltale. Senn... I’m coming back.”
